The Mavericks lost in an overtime thriller to the Orediggers on Sunday evening.
Colorado School of Mines (CSM) tied the game at three in the 78 minute of the game to force an overtime situation for the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) championship title.
Fifty three second into overtime, Michael Spraue of the Orediggers scored a goal that allowed his team to claim the RMAC championship title. The title is CSM’s fourth straight men’s soccer title.
Sophomore forward Alec Fronapfel had all three of the Mavericks goals as he recorded the fifth hat-trick in Colorado Mesa University (CMU) history. The last one came in 2018, when Lawan Abary had four goals against Colorado State University- Pueblo.
Fronapfel started the scoring off for CMU with a goal 13 minutes into the game. The goal was assisted by Gabriel Peres.
“Coming off a big win against Regis, this was the final, everyone woke up this morning feeling ready to go and getting the goal that early fueled us for the rest of the game,” Fronapfel said.
The Mavericks did not score again until the 50 minute of the game as senior midfielder Ramses Atahualpa passed the ball down to Fronapfel for his second goal of the game and to tie the game up at two. Fronapfel, knowing what the goal meant for his team then celebrated with excitement and ran on the sideline closest to the crowd that jumped up with excitement.
In the 73 minute of the game Fronapfel then assisted by junior midfielder Daisuke Takanaka scored the Mavericks third goal of the game. Five minutes later, Lucas King of CSM then tied it up to go into overtime.
“They play for set pieces, that is how they play and we knew that and they are very good at it and we kept giving them those opportunities,” head coach Jon Fridal said.
The Mavericks finished the game with 13 shots and nine of them at the goal while CSM took more shots the Mavericks defense limited the amount of shots they took at the goal. CSM took 14 shots while eight of them were at the goal.
After the game, Fronapfel discussed what the culture of the team has been like throughout the season. He knows that they have been like a family this year and being close helped them get to the championship game.
“Our culture has been a lot better than last year. Everybody is close, everybody hangs out all the time. I think COVID helped bring us together because we made sure that we stayed in our bubble and we did not go out so coming in we were actually a family this year and I think that is what brought us this far,” Fronapfel said.
CMU ends their season sharing the regular season title with CSM. They finish the shortened spring season with a 6-1-1 record. Fronapfel led the team with eight goals on the year and he also led the team with 17 points. Junior midfielder Ethan Anderson finished the season leading the team with five assists.
The Mavericks will compete again on Oct, 1 as they open the Fall 2021 season at Colorado State University- Pueblo. Their home opener on Maverick Field will be against Fort Lewis College on Oct. 8 in Grand Junction, Colo.
